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Chinese fans tire of waiting for Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal
The mobile Diablo game will get an update at Blizzcon, but clones fell flat in China and reception in the West has been poor
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Remember Diablo Immortal?
The announcement of a mobile version of the hit Diablo series was met by a chorus of boos and anger at last year’s Blizzcon. Hardcore gamers in the West took Diablo Immortal as a sign that Blizzard was focusing on China’s mobile market instead of them.
A year on, and Blizzard is apparently set to unveil an update on the game’s development, according to gaming analyst Daniel Ahmad. So far, so normal -- except the game’s co-developer, China’s NetEase, said in an earnings call back in February that it had finished developing the game.
Meet NetEase, China’s second-largest game publisher
With there still being no hint of a release date, fans in China are perplexed. Some see it as a good sign that Blizzard is taking the time to improve the game, after its disastrous debut; at one point, the game’s trailer had over a million dislikes on YouTube. But the long wait could also be hurting what’s seen as Diablo Immortal’s target market.
Western gamers slammed Blizzard for making a mobile Diablo game because they were expecting a new mainline Diablo game on PC. Instead, the mobile game and partnership with NetEase was seen as pandering to China, where most gamers are mobile gamers.
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